In the West, pantheism was formalized as a separate theology and philosophy based on the work of the 17th-century philosopher Baruch Spinoza[4]:p.7 (also known as Benedict Spinoza), whose book Ethics was an answer to Descartes' famous dualist theory that the body and spirit are separate.[5] Although the term pantheism was not coined until after his death, Spinoza is regarded as its most celebrated advocate.[6] His work, Ethics, was the major source from which Western pantheism spread.[7]

Pantheistic concepts may date back thousands of years, and some religions in the East continue to contain pantheistic elements.

As a religious position, some describe pantheism as the polar opposite of atheism.[5]:pp. 7 From this standpoint, pantheism is the view that everything is part of an all-encompassing, immanent God.[8] All forms of reality may then be considered either modes of that Being, or identical with it.[9] Some hold that pantheism is a non-religious philosophical position. To them, pantheism is the view that the Universe (in the sense of the totality of all existence) and God are identical (implying a denial of the personality and transcendence of God).[10]

In the West, pantheism was formalized as a separate theology and philosophy based on the work of the 17th-century philosopher Baruch Spinoza.[4]:p.7 Spinoza was a Dutch philosopher of SephardiPortuguese origin,[16] whose book Ethics was an answer to Descartes' famous dualist theory that the body and spirit are separate.[5] Spinoza held the monist view that the two are the same, and monism is a fundamental part of his philosophy. He was described as a "God-intoxicated man," and used the word God to describe the unity of all substance.[5] Although the term pantheism was not coined until after his death, Spinoza is regarded as its most celebrated advocate.[6] His work, Ethics, was the major source from which Western pantheism spread.[7]

Spinoza's magnum opus, the posthumous Ethics, in which he opposed Descartes' mind–body dualism, has earned him recognition as one of Western philosophy's most important thinkers. In his book Ethics, "Spinoza wrote the last indisputable Latin masterpiece, and one in which the refined conceptions of medieval philosophy are finally turned against themselves and destroyed entirely."[21]Hegel said, "You are either a Spinozist or not a philosopher at all."[22] His philosophical accomplishments and moral character prompted 20th-century philosopher Gilles Deleuze to name him "the 'prince' of philosophers".[23]

Spinoza was raised in the Portuguese Jewish community in Amsterdam. He developed highly controversial ideas regarding the authenticity of the Hebrew Bible and the nature of the Divine. The Jewish religious authorities issued a cherem (Hebrew: חרם, a kind of ban, shunning, ostracism, expulsion, or excommunication) against him, effectively excluding him from Jewish society at age 23. His books were also later put on the Catholic Church's Index of Forbidden Books.

The first known use of the term "pantheism" was in Latin, by the English mathematician Joseph Raphson in his work De spatio reali, published in 1697.[24] In De spatio reali, Raphson begins with a distinction between atheistic "panhylists" (from the Greek roots pan, "all", and hyle, "matter"), who believe everything is matter, and Spinozan "pantheists" who believe in "a certain universal substance, material as well as intelligence, that fashions all things that exist out of its own essence."[25][26] Raphson found the universe to be immeasurable in respect to a human's capacity of understanding, and believed that humans would never be able to comprehend it.[27]

The term was first used in English by the Irish writer John Toland in his work of 1705 Socinianism Truly Stated, by a pantheist.[12]:pp. 617–618 Toland was influenced by both Spinoza and Bruno, and had read Joseph Raphson's De Spatio Reali, referring to it as "the ingenious Mr. Ralphson's (sic) Book of Real Space".[28] Like Raphson, he used the terms "pantheist" and "Spinozist" interchangeably.[29] In 1720 he wrote the Pantheisticon: or The Form of Celebrating the Socratic-Society in Latin, envisioning a pantheist society which believed, "all things in the world are one, and one is all in all things ... what is all in all things is God, eternal and immense, neither born nor ever to perish."[30][31] He clarified his idea of pantheism in a letter to Gottfried Leibniz in 1710 when he referred to "the pantheistic opinion of those who believe in no other eternal being but the universe".[12][32][33][34]

In the mid-eighteenth century, the English theologian Daniel Waterland defined pantheism this way: "It supposes God and nature, or God and the whole universe, to be one and the same substance—one universal being; insomuch that men's souls are only modifications of the divine substance."[12][36] In the early nineteenth century, the German theologian Julius Wegscheider defined pantheism as the belief that God and the world established by God are one and the same.[12][37]

"Mr. Lincoln's religion is too well known to me to allow of even a shadow of a doubt; he is or was a Theist and a Rationalist, denying all extraordinary – supernatural inspiration or revelation. At one time in his life, to say the least, he was an elevated Pantheist, doubting the immortality of the soul as the Christian world understands that term. He believed that the soul lost its identity and was immortal as a force. Subsequent to this he rose to the belief of a God, and this is all the change he ever underwent."[39][40]

The subject is understandably controversial, but the content of the letter is consistent with Lincoln's fairly lukewarm approach to organized religion.[40]

Some 19th century theologians considered various pre-Christian religions and philosophies to be pantheistic.

Pantheism was regarded to be similar to the ancient Hindu[12]:pp. 618 philosophy of Advaita (non-dualism) to the extent that the 19th-century German Sanskritist Theodore Goldstücker remarked that Spinoza's thought was "... a western system of philosophy which occupies a foremost rank amongst the philosophies of all nations and ages, and which is so exact a representation of the ideas of the Vedanta, that we might have suspected its founder to have borrowed the fundamental principles of his system from the Hindus."[41]

In 2007, Dorion Sagan, the son of famous scientist and science communicator, Carl Sagan, published a book entitled Dazzle Gradually: Reflections on the Nature of Nature co-written by Sagan's ex-wife, Lynn Margulis. In a chapter entitled, "Truth of My Father", he declares: "My father believed in the God of Spinoza and Einstein, God not behind nature, but as nature, equivalent to it."[45]

In a letter written to Eduard Büsching (25 October 1929), after Büsching sent Albert Einstein a copy of his book Es gibt keinen Gott, Einstein wrote, "We followers of Spinoza see our God in the wonderful order and lawfulness of all that exists and in its soul [Beseeltheit] as it reveals itself in man and animal."[46] According to Einstein, the book only dealt with the concept of a personal god and not the impersonal God of pantheism.[46] In a letter written in 1954 to philosopher Eric Gutkind, Albert Einstein wrote "the word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses."[47][48] In another letter written in 1954 he wrote "I do not believe in a personal God and I have never denied this but have expressed it clearly.".[47]

In the late 20th century, pantheism was often declared to be the underlying theology of Neopaganism,[49] and pantheists began forming organizations devoted specifically to pantheism and treating it as a separate religion.[32]

Pantheism is mentioned in a Papal encyclical in 2009[50] and a statement on New Year's Day in 2010,[51] criticizing pantheism for denying the superiority of humans over nature and seeing the source of man's salvation in nature.[50] In a review of the 2009 film Avatar, Ross Douthat, an author, described pantheism as "Hollywood's religion of choice for a generation now".[52]

Levi Ponce's "Luminaries of Pantheism" in Venice, California for The Paradise Project, "dedicated to celebrating and spreading awareness about pantheism."

However, some have argued against treating every meaning of "unity" as an aspect of pantheism,[64] and there exist versions of pantheism that regard determinism as an inaccurate or incomplete view of nature. Examples include the beliefs of Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling and William James.[65]

It may also be possible to distinguish two types of pantheism, one being more religious and the other being more philosophical. The Columbia Encyclopedia writes of the distinction:

"If the pantheist starts with the belief that the one great reality, eternal and infinite, is God, he sees everything finite and temporal as but some part of God. There is nothing separate or distinct from God, for God is the universe. If, on the other hand, the conception taken as the foundation of the system is that the great inclusive unity is the world itself, or the universe, God is swallowed up in that unity, which may be designated nature."[66]

Nature worship or nature mysticism is often conflated and confused with pantheism. It is pointed out by at least one expert in pantheist philosophy that Spinoza's identification of God with nature is very different from a recent idea of a self identifying pantheist with environmental ethical concerns, Harold Wood, founder of the Universal Pantheist Society. His use of the word nature to describe his worldview is suggested to be vastly different from the "nature" of modern sciences. He and other nature mystics who also identify as pantheists use "nature" to refer to the limited natural environment (as opposed to man-made built environment). This use of "nature" is different from the broader use from Spinoza and other pantheists describing natural laws and the overall phenomena of the physical world. Nature mysticism may be compatible with pantheism but it may also be compatible with theism and other views.[75]

Panentheism (from Greek πᾶν (pân) "all"; ἐν (en) "in"; and θεός (theós) "God"; "all-in-God") was formally coined in Germany in the 19th century in an attempt to offer a philosophical synthesis between traditional theism and pantheism, stating that God is substantially omnipresent in the physical universe but also exists "apart from" or "beyond" it as its Creator and Sustainer.[76]:p.27 Thus panentheism separates itself from pantheism, positing the extra claim that God exists above and beyond the world as we know it.[77]:p.11 The line between pantheism and panentheism can be blurred depending on varying definitions of God, so there have been disagreements when assigning particular notable figures to pantheism or panentheism.[76]:pp. 71–72, 87–88, 105[78]

Pandeism is another word derived from pantheism and is characterized as a combination of reconcilable elements of pantheism and deism.[79] It assumes a Creator-deity which is at some point distinct from the universe and then transforms into it, resulting in a universe similar to the pantheistic one in present essence, but differing in origin.

Panpsychism is the philosophical view held by many pantheists that consciousness, mind, or soul is a universal feature of all things.[80] Some pantheists also subscribe to the distinct philosophical views hylozoism (or panvitalism), the view that everything is alive, and its close neighbor animism, the view that everything has a soul or spirit.[81]

Pantheism is popular in modern spirituality and New Religious Movements, such as Neopaganism and Theosophy.[91] Two organizations that specify the word pantheism in their title formed in the last quarter of the 20th century. The Universal Pantheist Society, open to all varieties of pantheists and supportive of environmental causes, was founded in 1975.[92] The World Pantheist Movement is headed by Paul Harrison, an environmentalist, writer and a former vice president of the Universal Pantheist Society, from which he resigned in 1996. The World Pantheist Movement was incorporated in 1999 to focus exclusively on promoting a strict metaphysical naturalistic version of pantheism,[93] considered by some a form of religious naturalism.[94] It has been described as an example of "dark green religion" with a focus on environmental ethics.[95]

Ideas resembling pantheism existed in East/South Asian religions before the 18th century (notably Hinduism, Confucianism and Taoism). Although no evidence of such influence on Spinoza's own work exists, it is evident in the writing of other contemporary philosophers such as Leibniz, and later Voltaire.[96][97]

^Honderich, Ted, The Oxford Companion to Philosophy, Oxford University Press, 1995, p.641: "First used by John Toland in 1705, the term 'pantheist' designates one who holds both that everything there is constitutes a unity and that this unity is divine."

^Thompson, Ann, Bodies of Thought: Science, Religion, and the Soul in the Early Enlightenment, Oxford University Press, 2008, p 133, ISBN 9780199236190

"The idea that Unity that is rooted in nature is what types of nature mysticism (e.g. Wordsworth and Robinson Jeffers, Gary Snyder) have in common with more philosophically robust versions of pantheism. It is why nature mysticism and philosophical pantheism are often conflated and confused for one another."

"[Wood's] pantheism is distant from Spinoza's identification of God with nature, and much closer to nature mysticism. In fact it is nature mysticism

"Nature mysticism, however, is as compatible with theism as it is with pantheism."

"Surely what Wood understands by "nature," its value etc., is vastly different from "nature" as seen by the natural sciences."

^ abJohn W. Cooper, The Other God of the Philosophers, Baker Academic, 2006

^Carpenter, Dennis D. (1996). "Emergent Nature Spirituality: An Examination of the Major Spiritual Contours of the Contemporary Pagan Worldview". In Lewis, James R., Magical Religion and Modern Witchcraft. Albany: State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-0-7914-2890-0. p 50